Jan. 18, 2012

This screen shot shows the blacked-out Wikipedia website, announcing a 24-hour protest against proposed legislation in the U.S. Congress, intended to protect intellectual property that critics say could facilitate censorship, referred to as the "Stop Online Piracy Act," or "SOPA," and the "Protect IP Act," or "PIPA." / AP Photo / Wikipedia

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U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., stood alone among the Vermont congressional delegation in supporting an online anti-piracy bill, ratcheting up his defense of the measure Wednesday even as criticism mounted.

Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., the state’s lone House member, said the anti-piracy measures were too deeply flawed to proceed in their current form. Changing the proposals will be for the best, they said.

Leahy, one of the chief sponsors of anti-piracy legislation, said Internet sites such as Google, Craigslist and others that were part of a widespread online protest could “never” be subject to his bill’s provisions.

“Websites ‘going dark’ today in protest of the PROTECT IP Act will not be affected by enactment of the legislation,” Leahy said in a statement Wednesday on his website. “The PROTECT IP Act narrowly defines an infringing website as one dedicated to infringement.

“While some of these websites do contain infringing content,” the statement continued, listing sites including Flickr, Google, Yahoo and Wikipedia, “each one clearly has a significant use other than infringement and therefore could never meet the definition contained in the PROTECT IP Act.”

Leahy’s statement came as more than a dozen major websites went dark Wednesday to protest a pair of controversial anti-piracy bills they claim will gut the Internet and stifle free speech.

The measures are widely backed by the film and music industries and are aimed at halting sales of pirated products abroad.

Google, Facebook and Twitter, all of whom oppose SOPA, were not participating in the blackout but have expressed their displeasure; Google covered its logo online Wednesday with a black “censored” bar.

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In a letter to U.S. senators and House members, the sites said they “cannot support these bills as written and ask that you consider more targeted ways to combat foreign ’rogue’ websites dedicated to copyright infringement and trademark counterfeiting.”

The Huffington Post, photo sharing site Flickr and blogging platform WordPress also joined the protest.

Vermont delegation divided

Leahy defended the anti-piracy proposals as valid and not in conflict with free-speech rights.

“Protecting copyrighted materials promotes free expression, and courts have long-held that enforcing intellectual property rights — including copyright — does not stand in opposition to the First Amendment freedoms that promote free speech,“ Leahy said in the statement. “The PROTECT IP Act does not make any activity illegal that is not already illegal _ and stealing another’s intellectual property or copyrighted materials is illegal, in the physical marketplace, or in the virtual world of the Internet.

“The PROTECT IP Act does not expand the scope of existing copyright law,“ he continued, “and preserves important protections such as fair use, which remain in place as they would in any other context. It merely strengthens the tools available to combat online activities that are already illegal under U.S. law.”

Sen. Sanders, the Vermont independent, disagreed with Leahy about the merits of the measure. He told the Burlington Free Press he doesn't support censorship and hopes the proposals in question will improve.

“While I believe that online piracy is a serious issue, it is absolutely essential that the Internet remain open and free of censorship or the chilling effects that result in self-censorship,” Sanders said by email. “I will not support legislation that results in censorship or self censorship on the Internet. The legislation before the Senate is currently being revised and should improve before it reaches a vote. I am taking the concerns of Vermonters and the Internet community very seriously. I am looking at the bill very closely and my staff is working with committee staff on ways to improve it.”

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Welch, Vermont’s Democratic House member, said in an interview with the Free Press that his office received 1,400 calls and emails from Vermonters about the issue, and “well over” 90 percent opposed the anti-piracy bills.

"The flaws have already proven fatal,” Welch said. "I'm a supporter of open access to the Internet. The calls were helpful because they focused my attention. Vermonters put us on high alert.”

He said he’s “determined to strike the right balance” to ensure the Internet remains open while protecting copyright and infringement concerns.

“People do an awful lot of hard work, and they deserve compensation for it,” Welch said. “It’s a significant challenge: How do you enforce property rights without interfering with Internet access?”

Hollywood vs tech

Earlier this week, NetCoalition, a trade group of Internet and technology companies including Google, Yahoo, Amazon.com and eBay, launched a radio advertising campaign highlighting the potential damage of SOPA and PIPA.

The drastic measures, including the blackout, they said, underscore the dire repercussions of SOPA. “We want to give people a visceral example of what would happen when content is blocked,“ says Rob Beschizza, managing editor of Boing Boing, which is shuttered today. He says visitors to Boing Boing will get a error message on their screen, explaining the protest.

Wikipedia CEO Jimmy Wales was more blunt in a tweet: “I hope Wikipedia (users) will melt phone systems” of politicians who are in favor of SOPA.

“A black screen is alarming,” says Ben Huh, CEO of Cheezburger, one of scores of sites that plan digital roadblocks that redirect consumers to another screen. (Users can opt out of the roadblock, and visit the site.)

For many sites, this is a preferable option because they cannot afford to shut down and upset users.

“It’s Hollywood against the tech world, in effect,“ says James Barraford, who writes about social media for MediaTapper.com.

Both congressional bills have widespread support from content owners, including Hollywood and music studios, concerned that online piracy damages their businesses. Technology giants say the bills amount to censorship.

Obama administration officials on Saturday came out against Domain Name System provisions in the bill that would have required Internet search giants and Internet providers to block foreign websites accused of piracy.

In apparent response to the rising backlash, congressional backers of the bills have pulled out the DNS requirements. The moves are seen as a way to appease tech companies.